Atlatl darts
These points may be as old as 4,800 years, according to the archaeologists. They are dart points for an atlatl, a spear throwing device used before they were replaced by bows and arrows. McKean Technocomplex, Duncan/Hanna points. Estimated age, 3800 to 4800 years old, give or take a couple of hundred years.
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Private collection
Many people have private artifact collections, some of which have been in their families for generations. Collecting on private land is legal. Archaeologists hope to educate people about the importance of documenting the site location to get as much information as possible about where an item was found.
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Learning about local artifacts
by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online!
February 22, 2011
The local Upper Green River Basin Chapter of the Wyoming Archaeological Society held their regular monthly meeting on February 15th at the Green River Valley Museum in Big Piney.
This meeting’s focus was an "artifact ID" session. WAS members were encouraged to bring in local artifacts they may have found in the Upper Green River Valley area. BLM archaeologists Dave Vlcek and Sam Drucker were on hand to look at the specimens and share what they could tell about them based on their knowledge of local area archaeology. Non-WAS members were offered the opportunity to have the archaeologists look at their items if they joined the WAS chapter, which a couple people did.
Artifacts brought in included rock dart points for an atl atl, rock arrow points, rock scrapers, a rock drill, rock bird points, a pipe, groundstone artifacts, a rock that may have been a possible fishing weight, a bone awl, southwestern pottery scherds. Artifacts were measured, weighed, photographed and documented. Items were allowed to be retained by the people who brought them in.
Part of the efforts of the Upper Green River Basin chapter of the WAS is to host programs that educate the public and raises the level of professionalism and ethics of amateur archaeologists and hobby collectors.
The Upper Green River Basin Chapter of the Wyoming Archaeological Society is a new chapter which formed in April 2010. The chapter is active with growing membership . They meet the third Tuesday of each month, alternating between the Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale and the Green River Valley Museum in Big Piney. The group tries to bring in guest speakers to give talks on archaeological topics for each meeting. During the summer, they plan to do field trips and assist with some archaeological surveys and hopefully some digs.
Thank you to Dave Vlcek for his contribution to this article.
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